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S-TiO2/Ti as efficient and stable electrocatalysts electrode for decomposition of HI to produce hydrogen

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Abstract

The hydrogen iodide decomposition reaction of the sulfur-iodine (SI) cycle is realized by electrolysis at room temperature to achieve efficient hydrogen production, while iodine is recycled throughout the SI reaction. In this work, we report a facile hydrothermal method for the synthesis of sulfur-doped titanium dioxide (S-\(\hbox {TiO}_2\)) nanosheets with evenly distributed on the Ti foil (S-\(\hbox {TiO}_2\)/Ti). The noble metal-free S-\(\hbox {TiO}_2\)/Ti electrode demonstrates excellent electrochemical catalytic performance for iodine evolution reaction. It can deliver a high current density of 100 mA/\(\hbox {cm}^2\) with a potential of 1.05 V, which is close to 90% of that of precious metal platinum and 5.6 times of bare Ti foil. Furthermore, the S-\(\hbox {TiO}_2\)/Ti electrode is stable in a mixed acid solution of HI and \(\hbox {H}_2\hbox {SO}_4\). Compared to \(\hbox {TiO}_2\)/Ti, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy analysis evidence a reduction in the band gap and work function of S-\(\hbox {TiO}_2\)/Ti due to the doping of sulfur. Correspondingly, the current efficiency approaches to 100% under the electrolysis constant voltage 1.30 V. Eventually, the detailed mechanism to describe the improvement of the electrocatalytic performance was suggested.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Jilin province science and technology development projects (20170414025GH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun, 130012, Jilin, China

    Xiongwei Wang, Rui-Juan Ma, Tingyu Guo, Xuewei Zhang & Xu Zhao

  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A9, Canada

    Hui Wang

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Contributions

XW involved in investigation, conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, and writing original draft. TG involved in conceptualization, methodology, and formal analysis. R-JM and XWZ involved in methodology. HW involved in conceptualization, review and editing. XZ involved in conceptualization, resources, review and editing, and funding acquisition.

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Wang, X., Ma, RJ., Guo, T. et al. S-TiO2/Ti as efficient and stable electrocatalysts electrode for decomposition of HI to produce hydrogen. J Mater Sci 58, 15035–15046 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08930-5

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